In a manner that’s all too familiar to fans of Dave Filoni’s Star Wars stories, the latest episode of The Bad Batch made a connection to Return of the Jedi that broke many a heart today.
During the events of “Rampage,” Hunter struggles to find out who hired Fennec Shand to hunt down Clone Force 99 and retrieve Omega. This leads the squad to Ord Mantell, where Echo contacts a former Jedi informant who goes by the name of Cid. The spy offers them his help, but only if they return it in kind by rescuing a child named Muchi from slavers.
The Bad Batch ultimately manages to track down the slavers and rescue the child, realizing that it’s actually a juvenile Rancor. But what’s ultimately interesting about this ordeal is when Hunter takes the child back to Cid, who then proceeds to hand him to none other than Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt’s chief of staff.
Putting two and two together, Star Wars fans have now realized that Clone Force 99 went through all that trouble to save the Rancor only for Luke Skywalker to nonchalantly kill him in Return of the Jedi, and here are some of the reactions to the rather hilarious ending of “Rampage” that are going around on Twitter:
#BadBatch spoilers ahead:
Anyone else finish today’s episode and immediately google the Rancor Luke killed in Return of the Jedi to make sure it wasn’t Muchi?
For the record, the one Luke killed was a male Rancor named Pateesa(Which means “Friend” in Huttese). Muchi is safe!
— Sci Fi DeepDive (@SciFiDeepdive) May 28, 2021
@HamillHimself tell me you didn't kill little Muchi from this weeks bad batch in Return of the Jedi…. Say it isn't so!?! 😩💔
— David Anderson (@estateplonker) May 28, 2021
Spoilers for #badbatch
THEY GAVE THE RANCOR IN RETURN OF THE JEDI A NAME. Its called muchi isn't that cute. We get to see her as a adolescent 30 years before she's violently impaled by a gate. It isnt star wars if an animal isnt being abused pic.twitter.com/tPIPJDpaaH— Average Asteroid City Enjoyer (@The_Mighty_MrD) May 28, 2021
So I just watched the latest Bad Batch episode and… this is a new feeling. Feeling sad cause a certain thing happens in Return of The Jedi that I never felt sad about
— Clint (@Daedraform101) May 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/BrixNBeyond/status/1398332822578995200
Holy shit the rancor the Bad Batch rescued is the same one Luke takes on in Return of the Jedi. #StarWarsTheBadBatch pic.twitter.com/oVaUK2TdPZ
— claytalian (@claytalian) May 28, 2021
// the bad batch spoilers , tbb spoilers
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Just finished today’s episode. Really liked it. However, another episode without Lula (two in a row now 😕). Also, I can’t watch return of the Jedi in the same way as before – Muchi :(. Cheers Dave.— Lorcan (@WrenSpecialty) May 28, 2021
Me, the next time I watch Return of the Jedi after today's Bad Batch pic.twitter.com/MfHPPuq3iU
— Ewan Paterson (@EwanRuinsThings) May 28, 2021
bad batch spoilers //
at first I was like awww cute baby rancor! 🥺
then seeing that it's the same rancor in rotj…. 😳 #BadBatch
— makayla elizabeth🦄🌸 (@lolhahahano) May 28, 2021
https://twitter.com/StarMunchJones/status/1398178491548540928
Bad Batch spoilers
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They really did an origin story for the Rancor in Jabba’s palace lmao this show is amazing— Max (@TW1NSUNS) May 28, 2021
cw // tbb spoilers #thebadbatch
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the fact that the bad batch and luke skywalker are linked all because of a rancor AKDJSNDNND
— cody ⌖ MOVED TO @/CROSSHAIRXS (@DARTHCROSSHAIR) May 28, 2021
Of course, it’s not entirely clear whether that was the same Rancor whom Luke slaughtered when he entered Jabba’s palace. But then again, there weren’t many of them lying around the castle as he, Han and Leia tried to make a run for it in Episode VI.
What do you think about this, though? Do you believe that Muchi was the same Rancor as the one our heroes killed in the Star Wars Original Trilogy almost 20 years later? Sound off below.